Iron-type golf club head

Abstract

An iron-type golf club head 1 having an improved moment of inertia without impairing the productivity and comprising a face portion 1 A which includes a body 10 having a club face 2 on its front side and an annular weight member 11 fixed to a peripheral edge portion on the back face side of the body 10 and having a larger specific gravity than the body 10 , in which at least a part of the weight member 11 is exposed onto the club head's outer circumference surface including top, sole and toe, and the body 10 is provided on its back face 6 side with an annular recess portion 14 into which the weight member 11 is fixed and which has an outside-facing surface 13 a fitted to an internal circumference surface 11 i of the annular weight member 11.

1. An iron-type golf club head comprising a face portion including a front face for hitting a golf ball, a top extending from the upper edge of said front face and forming an upper surface of the club head, a sole extending from the lower edge of said front face and forming a bottom surface of the club head, a toe connecting said top and said sole on a toe side of the club head, and a back face, in which
 said face portion comprises a body having said front face on its front side, and an annular weight member which annularly extends along a peripheral edge portion on the back face side of said body and is fixed to the back face of said body and which has a larger specific gravity than that of said body, 
 at least a part of said weight member is exposed onto the outer circumference surface of said face portion, 
 said body is provided on its back face side with an annular recess portion which has an outside-facing surface capable of fitting to an internal circumference surface of said annular weight member and into which said weight member is fitted, and 
 said body comprises a face plate and an annular protruding portion disposed on the rear surface of said face plate, in which said face plate includes a central portion surrounded by said annular protruding portion and a peripheral edge portion located outside of said annular protruding portion, the rear surface of said face plate is parallel to said front face at said central portion, and said protruding portion provides said outside-facing surface. 
 
     
     
       2. The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said body includes a face plate which provides a front part of the outer circumference surface of said face portion, and an annular protruding portion which protrudes on the back face side from the rear surface of said face plate at a location on the face center side with respect to the outer circumference surface of said face portion, and which is surrounded by said outside-facing surface, and said annular recess portion for fixing said weight member therein is constituted by the rear surface of said face plate, an outer circumference wall of said annular protruding portion which provides said outside-facing surface of said recess portion, and a corner portion formed by intersection of them, so that the club head periphery side of said annular recess portion is opened. 
     
     
       3. The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein said annular weight member has an outer circumference surface which provides a rear part of the outer circumference surface of said face portion when fitted into said annular recess portion. 
     
     
       4. The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein said face portion is provided on its back face with a cavity defined by said annular protruding portion in the form of an annular rib and dented toward its front face side. 
     
     
       5. The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said weight member has a sole weight portion extending along the sole in the toe-and-heel direction, and the height of said sole weight portion gradually decreases from its center portion toward both the toe and heel sides. 
     
     
       6. An iron-type golf club head comprising a face portion including a front face for hitting a golf ball, a top extending from the upper edge of said front face and forming an upper surface of the club head, a sole extending from the lower edge of said front face and forming a bottom surface of the club head, a toe connecting said top and said sole on a toe side of the club head, and a back face, in which
 said face portion comprises a body having said front face on its front side, and an annular weight member which annularly extends along a peripheral edge portion on the back face side of said body and is fixed to the back face of said body and which has a larger specific gravity than that of said body, 
 at least a part of said weight member is exposed onto the outer circumference surface of said face portion, 
 said body is provided on its back face side with an annular recess portion which has an outside-facing surface capable of fitting to an internal circumference surface of said annular weight member and into which said weight member is fitted, and 
 said body comprises a face plate and an annular protruding portion disposed on the rear surface of said face plate, in which said face plate includes a central portion surrounded by said annular protruding portion and a peripheral edge portion located outside of said annular protruding portion, the thickness t 1  of said central portion of the face plate is from 1.5 to 3.8 mm and is smaller than the thickness of said peripheral edge portion, and said protruding portion provides said outside-facing surface. 
 
     
     
       7. The golf club head of  claim 6 , wherein said face portion is provided on its back face with a cavity defined by said annular protruding portion which is in the form of an annular rib, and dented toward its front face side. 
     
     
       8. The golf club head of  claim 6 , wherein said weight member has a sole weight portion extending along the sole in the toe-and-heel direction, and the height of said sole weight portion gradually decreases from its center portion toward both the toe and heel sides. 
     
     
       9. An iron-type golf club head comprising a face portion including a front face for hitting a golf ball, a top extending from the upper edge of said front face and forming an upper surface of the club head, a sole extending from the lower edge of said front face and forming a bottom surface of the club head, a toe connecting said top and said sole on a toe side of the club head, and a back face, in which
 said face portion comprises a body having said front face on its front side, and an annular weight member which annularly extends along a peripheral edge portion on the back face side of said body and is fixed to the back face of said body and which has a larger specific gravity than that of said body, 
 at least a part of said weight member is exposed onto the outer circumference surface of said face portion, 
 said body is provided on its back face side with an annular recess portion which has an outside-facing surface capable of fitting to an internal circumference surface of said annular weight member and into which said weight member is fitted, 
 said body comprises a face plate and an annular protruding portion disposed on the rear surface of said face plate, in which the rear surface of said face plate is parallel to said front face, and 
 said annular weight member has a sole weight portion extending along the sole in the toe-and-heel direction, and said sole weight portion has the maximum thickness measured in the direction perpendicular to said front face at a location below its internal circumference surface. 
 
     
     
       10. The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein said face portion is provided on its back face with a cavity defined by said annular protruding portion which is in the form of an annular rib, and dented toward its front face side. 
     
     
       11. The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein the height of said sole weight portion gradually decreases from its center portion toward both the toe and heel sides.